TY - JOUR
TI - Doping at the Science Museum
AU - Ben Regel
AU - Jannicke Langfeldt
AU - Louisa Burden
AU - Mary Ryan
PY - 2016
VL - 6
IS - Autumn 2016
KW - doped fabric
KW - historic aircraft conservation
KW - doped aircraft
KW - Flight gallery
AB - This article concerns the conservation of historic doped fabric aeroplanes in the static museum setting of the Science Museum’s Flight gallery. It reviews historic sources, primarily archival and scientific research papers, to examine what doped fabric aeroplanes are made from, and why these materials were selected.
It also discusses current conservation methods used for treating tears in the doped fabric covering of aeroplanes, and considers the ethical and practical limitations of these practices. An overview of the doped fabric aircraft collection currently held by the Science Museum is also presented.
N1 - Many documents in file AIR 1/1136/204/5/2237 at the NA make it clear that this was not a popular switch as the new varnishes took at least 10 hours to dry, making them unsuitable for field use. Eventually, therefore, older, more trusted materials such as PC10 and V84 were reinstated.
N1 - A re-covering project is currently under way on a Wellington Mk 10B bomber at the RAF Cosford Museum. The scale and complexity of this object illustrates many of the challenges and issues discussed in this section. Further details of the conservation centre can be found at www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/things-to-see-and-do/conservation-centre.aspx (accessed 1 December 2015).
N1 - In file AIR1/1136/204/5/2237 at the NA, a communiqué from the officer commanding the No. 1 Aircraft Depot to the headquarters of the Royal Flying Corps dated 18 September 1917 states that a cellulose acetate dope applied above a cellulose nitrate dope resulted in bubbling of the surface. Another document in the same file, labelled ‘Notes on Dopes’, emphasises that the two classes of dopes based on acetate or nitrates should not be mixed.
N1 - Letter from P Davison to L Hayward, dated 2001, in file T/1954-660
N1 - Letter from R Moore, dated 14 October 1975. Moore states that Museum staff planned to use cream pigmented dopes, whereas a clear, unpigmented dope would be more accurate because of the concern with weight reduction.
PB - The Science Museum Group
SN - 2054-5770
LA - eng
DO - 10.15180/160605
UR - http://journal.sciencemuseum.org.uk/browse/issue-06/doping-at-the-science-museum/
T2 - Science Museum Group Journal